This past July, the 2016 CrossFit Games took place at the StubHub Center in Carson, California, as well as in Aromas, California, and in Redondo Beach. The five-day Crossfit Games of 2016 featured 15 events at the three locations and thousands of competitors, both individually and teams.
The first day of the CrossFit Games in 2016 featured the first three events: 7-kilometer trail run, Deadlifting, and Mini Chipper. The third event specifically involved doing multiple exercises in sequence the fastest: 50 wall ball shots, 25 sit-ups with a medicine ball, and sprinting up the hill with the medicine ball. The second day featured just one event: the 500-meter ocean swim.
The third day of the 2016 CrossFit Games started with some of the more grueling events. The fifth event, referred to as the Murph and also the “hero workout” honored US Navy SEAL Lt. Michael Murphy, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2005. Here, the contestants wore weighted vests and had to run 1 mile, do 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 air squats, and run 1 mile back again. This was followed by the Squat Clean Pyramid, which is also known in weightlifting as the clean and jerk. The number of squats required was based on the contestant’s weight. Afterwards, it was the Double DT, where the contestants did 10 rounds timed using a barbell to do 12 deadlifts, 9 clean and jerks, and 6 jerks.
The last two days of the CrossFit Games 2016 moved the events into the StubHub Center, home of the Los Angeles Galaxy of the MLS. Number 8 on the event list was the Climbing Snail. This included a 500-meter run, 2 separate ascents on the rope, and the snail (barrel) push at 40 feet. The run went behind the stadium’s jumbotron, where one rope was, and the second rope was hanging in the middle of the field. The Separator is an exhausting list of exercises, which separated the top of the field with the rest. For the first time, they included handstand push-ups with gymnastic rings. In addition, competitors had to do 60 burpees, back, front, and overhead squats in a certain order. The next event simply called 100%, involved 40 box jumps of 24-30 inches high and 20 D-ball cleans of 100-150 pounds.
The final day included the last five events of the 2016 CrossFit Games. The Handstand Walk was 280 feet long, the Suicide Sprint, and The Plow was a 560-foot plow drag. The last two events were among the most grueling. The Rope Chipper involves double-unders – a specific act of jumping rope, riding 0.4 miles on the stationary AirBike, a 200-meter indoor row, a 200-meter “SkiErg,” or cross-country skiing simulation, and the 90-foot sled pool. The final event was called Redemption, essentially a highly challenging version of rock climbing.
Several of the events in the Crossfit Games of 2016 varied in weight and order between the men and women. For the sled pull, men had to pull 310 pounds, while women pulled 220 pounds. The plow drag was 235 pounds for men, and 190 pounds for women. The barbell in the Double DT was 155 pounds for men, and 105 pounds for women. The Separator had the same events but in different order between men and women.
CrossFit Games 2016 concluded with Matthew Fraser, the two-time runner-up, pulling ahead to win the men’s individual competition. He won by a record 197 points over defending champion, Ben Smith. On the women’s side, Iceland’s Katrin Tanja Davidsdottir repeated as individual champion, as well as CrossFit Mayhem Freedom in the team section. Their victory was the largest margin for a team, separating themselves from the runner-up by 112 points.
Crossfit Games 2016 marks seven consecutive years in Carson, California. Next year the games will take place at Madison, Wisconsin’s Aliant Energy Center.